Stephen King fans have had plenty to be thankful for this year with the remake of Pet Sematary, the huge release of IT Chapter Two and the recent debut of In the Tall Grass on Netflix. The year’s not over though and Doctor Sleep, the sequel to arguably the most iconic Stephen King adaptation, Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, arrives in November. But now Stephen King fans have the chance to see Doctor Sleep over a week early.
Doctor Sleep doesn’t release wide domestically until November 8, but Warner Bros. is teaming up with online ticketing service Fandango to offer audiences a chance to see the film early on October 30. That’s nine days prior to the film’s official release date, so Stephen King fans and horror fans in general can be some of the first people to experience this anticipated horror event film. Here’s how you can see Doctor Sleep on October 30.
The early access screenings for Doctor Sleep are exclusive to Fandango VIP members. Fortunately, even if you aren’t a member already, Fandango’s rewards program is free-to-join, so you can sign up for Fandango VIP right away and gain access to the advance screenings of Doctor Sleep.
Fandango VIP members will be able to see Doctor Sleep early at about 400 theaters nationwide, including the big three chains of AMC Theatres, Regal Cinemas and Cinemark, as well as Marcus Theatres, Harkins Theatres and others. Tickets are available starting today so you can check theater availability and get yours by visiting Fandango now.
This is just the latest advance screening Fandango has hosted this year after How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, The Secret Life of Pets 2, Shazam! and Rocketman. In a press release, Fandango President Paul Yanover said that the goal of these early access screenings is to turn these movies into events and for horror fans and fans of Stephen King, Doctor Sleep should certainly fall into that category.
One thing that is really cool, beyond just getting to see an anticipated movie early, is that Fandango’s early access screenings of Doctor Sleep are at the end of October, just in time for Halloween. We traditionally associate horror movies with the month of October but if you look at the calendar, there isn’t really much this month for horror fans that is actually intended to scare.
The Addams Family is for kids and while Maleficent could have been a scary character, that’s not the direction Disney went for its live-action adaptation. The only real wide release horror movie in October is Zombieland: Double Tap and that’s a horror-comedy. So it’ll be great for people who want to actually get scared to see an R-rated, and pretty long, Stephen King adaptation from Gerald’s Game and The Haunting of Hill House’s Mike Flanagan right before Halloween.
Doctor Sleep is based on the 2013 novel by Stephen King and will serve as a sequel to both the 1980 adaptation of The Shining by Stanley Kubrick, as well as Stephen King’s original novel. It stars Ewan McGregor, Rebecca Ferguson and Kyliegh Curran and tells the story of a grown up Danny Torrance who meets a young girl with powers similar to his own.
Doctor Sleep opens in wide release on November 8. Check out our 2019 Release Schedule to keep track of all of this fall’s biggest movies.
